Name Asheville Built 1966-1971 Type PGM motor gunboat | Completed 17 commissioned | |
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Succeeded by PSMM Mk5 multi-purpose patrol boat (PSMM) | ||
The Asheville-class gunboats were a class of small military ships built for the United States Navy in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The class is named for a city in western North Carolina and the seat of Buncombe County. Most Asheville-class gunboats have since been donated to museums, scheduled for scrapping, or transferred to the Greek, Turkish, Colombian and South Korean Navies. The exceptions are the USS Chehalis (PGM-94) and USS Grand Rapids (PGM-98), which are operated by the Naval Surface Warfare Center.
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Origination
The Asheville-class gunboats were originally designated PGM motor gunboats, but were reclassified in 1967 as PG patrol combatant ships.
Asheville class gunboats employed a combined diesel or gas turbine (CODOG) propulsion system; twin Cummins diesel engines for endurance, and a GE LM1500 gas turbine for high-speed dash. Engine controls were operated by pneumatics. The controllable reversible pitch propeller allowed them to stop in less than two ship lengths from full speed. They were the first gas turbine ships in the US Navy, as well as the first with aluminum hulls and fiberglass superstructures.
History
Originally designed for the Caribbean patrols, the Asheville class ships were deployed into Southeast Asia. They proved successful in coastal work, intercepting small boats attempting to transport arms along the Viet Nam coast. Attempts to use them on the inland rivers proved disastrous to the small lightly armored ships, the USS Cannon was severely damaged by over eight rocket strikes, resulting in half of the crew being wounded.
The USS Surprise and the USS Beacon were deployed in the Mediterranean to counter the Soviet gunboats, their 3-inch guns a solid deterrent to the small missile boats.
Five of the gunboats were fitted with various missile systems replacing the 40mm guns. Benicia conducted test firings in the spring of 1971 of a modified AGM-12 Bullpup surface-to-surface missile system and the Antelope and Ready were fitted with two launch cells aft plus reload boxes on deck. The Grand Rapids and Douglas were fitted with an improved Standard ARM missile.
Ships
A total of 17 Asheville-class gunboats were built between 1966 and 1971.
During the Third Cod War between Iceland and Great Britain in 1975-1976 the Icelandic Coast Guard, through the Minister of Justice Ólafur Jóhannesson (the political leader of the Coast Guard), requested the loan of one or more Asheville boats from the United States Navy. With their high speed they were considered ideal for the Icelanders to counter the British frigates protecting trawlers on the Icelandic fishing banks. The U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger categorically turned down the Icelandic request. This hardly came as a great surprise to the Icelanders, as the request for the Asheville boats was probably a political ploy, intended to show how serious Iceland was in overcoming the Royal Navy in the struggle for the fishing banks. The seaworthiness of the Ashevilles in the rough seas of the North Atlantic around Iceland has to be considered doubtful, at best.
Original commission
The following Asheville-class gunboats were commissioned for the U.S. Navy.
(PG93, PG95, PG97, PG99 & PG101 were built by Peterson Builders, Sturgeon Bay, WI; most of the remaining PG84 class were built by Tacoma Shipyard)
Hellenic Navy
Two of the ships were transferred to the navy of Greece; both ships were in reserve from April 1977 before being refitted and transferred. The gas-turbine propulsion engines were removed prior to transfer and the ships were reclassified as coastal patrol craft.